Metro Transit Rolls Out First Electric, Battery-Powered Bus

Puget Sound Business Journal | Rob Smith | February 18

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/2016/02/metro-transit-rolls-out-first-electric-battery.html

“Metro Transit’s first all-electric, battery-powered bus is now operating in Bellevue. It’s the first of three such buses the transit agency will test this year. The 38-seat prototype buses, manufactured by Burlingame, California-based Proterra, Inc., can travel 23 miles or more between charges…King County Executive Dow Constantine said the 100 percent electric buses will add to what is already one of the greenest fleets in the U.S. “We’re taking advantage of the latest clean-energy technology to achieve our goal of an all-electric and hybrid fleet in three years,” Constantine said in a statement.”

 

Planned Seattle Office Tower Aims to Attract Tech Tenants to Former Amazon Site, with ‘Good Mojo’ Included

GeekWire | Kurt Schlosser | February 17

http://www.geekwire.com/2016/launch-pad-seattle-office-building/

“The technology industry touches almost every corner of the Seattle region these days, and a planned downtown office building called The Launch Pad is the latest example. Developed by Seattle’s Urban Visions real estate firm, it’s being designed to attract tech tenants. Currently in the design process, the building is slated for 1516 Second Ave., near Pike Place Market, where a four-story building was once home to Amazon.com.”

 

Seattle Mayor’s State of the City Addresses Rapid Growth, Business Issues

Puget Sound Business Journal | Becky Monk | February 17

http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/2016/02/mayors-state-of-the-city-addresses-rapid-growth.html

“In his third annual State of the City address Tuesday, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray praised the innovation that has made Seattle one of the fastest-growing cities in the nation but acknowledge that a lot must be done to continue to thrive and address inequities, including asking the business community for help. Seattle, he said, has created more than 63,000 jobs in five years. Its minimum wage reached $13 an hour and the city’s median income is the third highest in the nation. ‘With an unemployment rate below 3.5 percent, we have been named the best city in the country to find a job,’ he added.”

 

Inslee Makes I-405 Lane Adjustments

Crosscut | Tom James | February 17

http://crosscut.com/2016/02/inslee-makes-i-405-lane-adjustments/

“Standing in a control room with nearly a hundred screens showing traffic conditions around metro Seattle, Gov. Jay Inslee on Tuesday unveiled a package of changes underway and already completed to address Eastside congestion on I-405, as well as repairs to the state’s aging main arterial. ‘We’re almost six months into the two-year launch of these lanes and the results are mixed,’ Inslee said of new toll and express lanes on I-405. ‘I’m directing WSDOT to move on short- and long-term solutions to address these chokepoints.’ While Inslee unveiled upgrades to state accident response capacity as well as repairs to expansion joints up and down I-5, he spent the bulk of his time talking about fixes to I-405.”

 

Grass Greener, Internet Faster? Why Seattle is Mapping Broadband Speeds Across the City

GeekWire | Madeline Vuong | February 15

http://www.geekwire.com/2016/is-the-broadband-faster-on-the-other-side-of-the-fence-city-of-seattle-creates-app-to-compare-internet/

“The City of Seattle has announced an online broadband speed test that will create a map of internet speeds and prices across different Seattle neighborhoods. Using the map, city residents will be able compare their Internet plans to their neighbors’ plans. The map will be available online at the end of this month, once the city collects enough initial data.”